Fate of four K League clubs on the line in promotion-relegation playoffs

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Fate of four K League clubs on the line in promotion-relegation playoffs

Published: 25 Oct. 2022, 17:16 Updated: 25 Oct. 2022, 17:26

Jonathan Moya of FC Anyang [K LEAGUE]

Lee Ki-je of the Suwon Samsung Bluewings [JOONGANG ILBO]

The lineup for the 2023 K League 1 will be decided this week with the two promotion-relegation playoffs kicking off on Wednesday.

K League 1 clubs Gimcheon Sangmu FC and Suwon Samsung Bluewings will try and keep their spots in the top tier, while K League 2 clubs Daejeon Hana Citizen FC and FC Anyang are looking for a shot at promotion. The first pair of playoffs will be played on Wednesday with the second leg following on Saturday.

The K League first adopted the split division system in 2013 when the top tier was named K League Classic and the second tier K League Challenge. They only changed to the current names, K League 1 and K League 2, at the start of the 2018 season.

In the K League, the bottom club from the K League 1 is automatically relegated and the top team from K League 2 takes their place in the top tier. The second-to-last K League 1 team competes in a playoff each year with one of the runners-up from the K League 2. If the K League 2 club wins, they are promoted and the K League 1 club is relegated.

Starting this season, in addition to the previous promotion-relegation playoff, the 10th K League 1 club — the second-from-last in the 12-team league — will need to play the winner of a series of playoffs played between the third to fifth K League 2 clubs.

Only the top nine K League 1 clubs are guaranteed to stay in the top tier without playing a promotion-relegation playoff.

FC Seoul was the lucky club this year, squeezing into the top nine after their final match of the regular season with a 2-0 win over Suwon FC on Saturday.

With the capital club's victory, the Bluewings were pushed down to 10th and are now forced to play the playoffs this week, marking the first time in the club's history that their top tier spot has been put on the line.

The Samsung club will face K League 2 third-place finishers FC Anyang.

Anyang have never played the playoffs before and have only ever played in the second tier. While this is the club's second time finishing third, this is Anyang's first chance ever to reach the top tier thanks to the change of the playoff format this year.

On the other side of the bracket, K League 2 runners-up Daejeon Hana Citizen will face K League 1 second-place club Gimcheon Sangmu.

This pair has more experience with playoffs, as Daejeon played them last year and failed to advance to the top tier, while Sangmu have won the playoffs twice.

In the history of the eight promotion-relegation playoffs since 2013, the numbers are actually in favor of the underdogs. Five clubs have been promoted to the K League 1 while only three top tier clubs have managed to keep their seats.

For the first four years of the playoffs, the second tier clubs always triumphed over the top tier.

In 2013, Sangmu clinched the first-ever K League promotion against Gangwon FC after winning the first leg 4-1 at home and conceding the second 1-0.

Gwangju beat Gyeongnam FC in 2014, Suwon FC beat Busan IPark in 2015 and Gangwon again beat Seongnam FC in 2016.

Sangmu in 2017 became the first club to keep their top tier spot, beating Busan IPark on a penalty shootout.

Busan failed to make it into the K League 1 once again the following year, with Seoul keeping their seat.

Busan finally found their chance in 2019 when they played the Nakdong River derby against Gyeongnam FC in the playoffs. The two clubs drew 0-0 in the first playoff but Busan beat Gyeongnam 2-0 in the second.

The playoffs were not played in 2020, with the automatic relegation of Sangmu due to a change of cities.

Even though Sangmu had the best season in the club's history in 2020, finishing fourth in the top tier, the team's home town Sangju did not renew the contract with the military football team for the 2021 season. Under league rules, if a club moves cities, it has to drop out of the top tier. Sangmu moved from Sangju, North Gyeongsang to Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang, triggering an automatic relegation.

Last season, Gangwon FC was able to keep their seat after beating Daejeon 4-1 with a big comeback in the second leg of the promotion-relegation playoff.

Each playing one leg at home and one away, Daejeon and Anyang will start at home against Gimcheon and Bluewings respectively on Wednesday. The second playoffs will be played in Suwon and Gimcheon on Saturday.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]